WEEK 1: THE WORK OF BELIEF

Genesis 1:1-5 & 1 John 4:7-12

“If there is a God, and if that God is good, there is a moral order to the world that He, by His nature, must have put there. I think we sense that moral order. And I think part of Christian practice is deciding to be loyal to it. To chase it where it goes. To open ourselves up, with humility and reverence, to what and Who it reveals.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Have you had any prior experiences with the Apostles’ Creed (or any other Creed) in your church story? How was it treated/introduced? How did you feel about that experience?

2. The primary purpose of the Apostles’ Creed is to help Christians remain unified in the “essentials” of Christian belief. As we begin our study, what seems to be most essential, according to this Creed? If you were making your own creed, what would it include? What is most essential about Christian faith, from your perspective? 

3. The Creed begins with the words “I believe,” and Kenny made the point on Sunday that this is extremely important because our beliefs shape and determine both the way we think about things and the way we behave in the world. Do you think this is true? 

4. There are 4 affirmations in the first statement of the Apostles’ Creed. Let’s talk about them! Why is it important that we begin with the belief that God exists? Why does this really matter? What makes this easy/hard for you?

5. What is important about believing God is Father? Why does it matter? What makes it easy/hard for you?

6. What is important about believing that God is almighty? Why does it matter? What makes it easy/hard for you?

7. What is important about believing that God is the maker of heaven and earth? Why does it matter? What makes it easy/hard for you?

8. Re-read the quotation from the sermon above. Do you sense a “moral order” in the world? What do you think it means to “be loyal” to it? How is this connected to our lives as Christians?

SCRIPTURE: Luke 13:6-9 & Isaiah 55:10-11

“If we believe in our hearts we are loved, that Jesus is tending our roots, we can delight in who we are becoming in every moment. We can learn to feel it more fully, to embrace how we are being shaped not into something or someone different, but into who and what we were made to be. We’re becoming more fully human: God is doing it (sometimes whether we want Him to or not!) and participating with Him in that work can be our vocation. Here’s what it takes: making a discipline of stillness rather than doing. Listening for Him with real openness and expectation. Participating in what He is doing in you, and in the world.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. How has the discipline of being still been going for you over the last few weeks? When has it been easy? When has it been hard? How do you feel about continuing the practice moving forward?

2. How has the discipline of listening with openness and expectation been going for you? What is comforting or reassuring about it when you try? What makes it frightening or difficult? Can you identify any of the roadblocks you’re experiencing? Would you be willing to share them?

3. How would you articulate the difference between obedience and participation? Try to imagine God’s perspective: which might He prefer? Why?

4. Kenny quoted the Brazilian educator and activist Paulo Freire, who said that it is our “ontological vocation [to] become more fully human.” What does this mean? Do you agree? (A quick reminder: ontology is “the study of the nature of being” and vocation is “work that aligns with your calling”). 

5. What keeps us from “being fully human” already? 

6. Look at the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13:6-9. What is everyone’s role in the parable? What is the fig tree’s responsibility? What is its opportunity? How does the passage from Isaiah inform the parable?

7. How did the woman in Kenny’s adoption story participate in what God was doing? What would it mean for you to participate more in your own story… or the stories of others?

SCRIPTURE: 1 Samuel 3, Habakkuk 1 & 2, Isaiah 30:21, & Hebrews 4:12

“It really does matter how you’re listening. Are you willing to try to be more open? Do you respect Him enough to expect Him? Can you nurture the imagination necessary to believe that the God of the Universe really wants to be heard… by you? That’s an enormous thing! It’s an amazing thing! But we can believe it, and we can experience it. We can be still… we can listen… and we can hear.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. How would you explain what it means to be a “good listener”? What skills are involved? What are some of the situations in your life when you have to practice “good listening”? 

2. What have your experiences been with “listening to God”? Have you heard Him before? In what ways? In what senses? What was the situation? Do you find listening to God easy or hard? Why?

3. Kenny said that listening to God requires radical openness. What do you think this means? What makes this hard to do? 

4. He also said that we don’t have to become fully open to God overnight! It’s a gradual process, and it takes a lifetime. What is one thing about your life that you can open up to God about this week? Who can you talk to about what you find?

5. The second component of “good listening” this week was expectation. When you talk to God, do you expect Him to answer you? Why or why not?

6. Kenny said that what we expect from God reflects what we respect about God. Who do you believe God is? What is His character like? How can those things (re)shape what you expect when you listen for Him?

7. Some helpful practices for listening to God include journaling and talking with friends about your prayers/expectations. Do you have these routines in your life? Would you be willing to try and start them this week? 

SCRIPTURE: Psalms 46 & 131

“Stillness is necessary not just for our humility, not just because it helps us listen, but because it demonstrates trust: God will do it! It’s true that He may use you to carry out His purposes… but we are not His commissioned soldiers, running out to change the world on His behalf! This is where our attempts at discipleship so often go wrong: we want to learn how to be better Christians on our own–’follow these 10 foolproof steps and your faith will grow! You will be happy! You will be holy! God will be impressed!’  But the whole point of being Christian is getting out of the performance-based economy of the world! When we choose stillness, when we choose to do  ‘nothing’ instead of ‘something,’ we’re practicing trust in God to see His own plans to the end. This isn’t easy to do, and it’s certainly not comfortable. But it’s what we can choose to do, if we really want to participate in God’s Kingdom rather than build up our own.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Evaluate your current relationship to the practice of “stillness” in your life: when are you still? Is stillness difficult for you? Why?

2. Read and reconsider Psalm 46, from an historical viewpoint: why might stillness have been difficult for David? What temptations towards “busy-ness” would have been present in his life? How might he have been tempted to justify “busy” choices? What does this psalm reveal about how God is challenging those choices?

3. Kenny said stillness does 3 things in this sermon. The first is that stillness surrenders control. What do you think this means? 

4. The second is that stillness fosters listening. Has this been your experience? What makes someone a good/bad listener? Evaluate your own listening practices.

5. The third is that stillness demonstrates trust. How does this work? How is “demonstrating trust” different from “surrendering control”? 

6. Read and reconsider Psalm 46, from your own viewpoint: what could you learn from the choice to be still? How might the decision to be still be a blessing for you?

7. Where are the best opportunities for stillness in your life? How can you practice being still this week? 

On Christmas Eve, we again partnered with other churches in our community to hold a multi-denominational, community-wide candlelight service. This is one of our most treasured traditions: a testimony to the truth that we are ONE CHURCH MADE OF MANY PARTS. We were honored to participate alongside our sisters and brothers at:

College Creek Church

First Baptist Church of Annapolis

Heritage Baptist Church

John Wesley United Methodist Church

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 35:1-10, Luke 1:46b-55, & James 5:7-10

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 7:10-16 & Matthew 1:18-25

“Love is the foundation for our hope in this world. Love is the miracle in Creation that blossoms any time and every time we look beyond ourselves and open ourselves up to others… or to God. There’s no explanation for it on its own: there is no reason for us to put our final focus on anything beyond our own survival. But when we do it anyways, we are filled up with something beautiful, and scary, and fragile, and yet still overwhelming. Even more, we are filled up with something we cannot stay pregnant with forever: something that, if we nurture it, will overflow the banks of us and rush out into the world. A force for good, for deliverance. Love is trust. Trust nourishes love.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Much of this week’s sermon hinges on the connection between trust and love. What connections do you see between these things? Are they dependent on one another? 

2. Consider the context of Isaiah 7:10-16. Although we often see this verse as a prophecy about Jesus, what else might it be talking about? What does it mean to Isaiah and King Ahaz?

3. Kenny suggested that Joseph, in the Matthew 1 passage, is like King Ahaz in the Isaiah passage. How so? 

4. What threatens our ability to see God’s love as it is expressed in His promises to us? What gets in the way of your ability to feel God’s love?

5. Kenny spent some time talking about the miracle, hope, and fear of pregnancy. Why do you think God chooses this path for His son? For Mary? What can we learn from this?

6. Spend some time this week reflecting on the meditations we borrowed today from Henri Nouwen. Say slowly to yourself:  Jesus is God’s beloved. I am God’s beloved. We are God’s beloved. How can you nurture and share love this week? 

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 2:1-5, Matthew 24:36-44, & Romans 13:11-14

“In light of Jesus’s life, the Kingdom that is still coming can get started now. We can live in it, in anticipation of its full arrival sometime in the future. What it requires from us is hope. Hope is what rises up in us when we hold the mystery of God up against the faithfulness of God in our story. It’s what we feel when we say, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen today, but I still know the ending.’ Our God is always bigger than our theories or our plans or our predictions. The prophets know that! But He is also nearer than we could ever expect Him to be: that’s the heart of what Jesus’s birth means.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Read Isaiah 2:1-5. Kenny described this “puzzle piece” as a promise. What do you think he meant by that? What is being promised? 

2. Read Matthew 24:36-44. Kenny described this “piece” as a paradox. What do you think he meant by that? Why is “hopeless” to think we can be “ready,” based on this story? 

3. Read Romans 13:11-14. Kenny described this “piece” as a presence. What do you think he meant by that? Who is being present? 

4. How can presence help to answer the riddle created by the first two “pieces?” What might this have to do with “hope”?

5. Hope has much to do with our imagination: it requires us to stay focused on God’s faithfulness, even when it can be hard to see how it is manifested in the world. How does this kind of attention bring “light” into our lives? What gets in the way of that?

6. What patterns or practices can help keep us “hopeful”?

7. Do you feel hopeful today? Why or why not? How might these verses and ideas bring you comfort? 

8. At the end of the message, Kenny tied our ability to “carry hope” to the story of Mary and Joseph. What is the connection? How can reflecting on their experiences give us a clearer sense of our own hopes?